Apparently the knowledge isn't wide enough, because this is the first I'm hearing of it... Why is gum bad for you? I knew it was in a downward sales trend, but I figured that was just consumer preferences changing over time.
Gum with sugar is bad for your teeth. Gum without sugar has xylitol in it, which is good for your teeth, but may increase your risk of heart attacks and strokes due to it promoting blood clotting[1].
Why does this remind me of something out of a certain old point and click adventure game, it was one that had the verb USE apply to every type of action.
click>(GUM)
click>(SELF)
click>(USE)
"You used the GUM on yourself.
Nothing special happens.
You now have 0 GUM."
There was another game in the same genre that did the same, but with the verb OPERATE. As teenagers my friends and I used to laugh way too much at dialogue responses these games would craft, where you would get things like "OPERATE GUM on SELF"